‘If you truly were a Divine Beast, you must have seen the future.’

Divine Beasts, known as wise creatures, were born in the divine realm. Sacred beings who lived closest to the gods.

Yutinne must have left traces of herself in Asdelica.

Because she would want her descendants to remember her.

After cutting away a fair amount of grass, the tomb’s entrance came into view.

Moss and vines had grown to wrap around the entrance door and walls—the passage of time was palpable.

Cardel took out the pendant he’d received from Ashili and brought it close to the engraving carved into the entrance.

The pure mana contained in the pendant flowed into the engraving, emitting a blue light.

‘So it really is a dragon.’

It was truly a wondrous sight. Not only had they built a massive stone tomb, but they’d even installed such complex mechanisms.

Even exiled to the human realm, a Divine Beast remained a Divine Beast.

He felt like an explorer who’d reached ancient ruins in search of treasure.

The stone door vibrated and opened, and from within, a biting cold air burst forth.

Cool, hollow air that made it clear the place had been cut off from the outside world for ages brushed past his nose.

“Young master.”

Heron, having finished searching outside, followed Cardel into the tomb.

“Outside?”

“Doesn’t seem to be anything. Just in case, I searched all the way to the back mountain, but nothing turned up.”

“Then we have no choice but to pray it’s here.”

They didn’t have much time. They didn’t know how long the marquis could hold on, and Evolaine’s condition wasn’t great either.

She’d sustained a waist injury in her most recent battle, and it still hadn’t healed.

“Did Evolaine get treatment today before leaving?”

“Yes, the physician reported she didn’t have time so she received brief treatment and left.”

“I told her to finish her treatment before going.”

Knights should prioritize their physical condition above all else, yet Evolaine didn’t know how to take care of herself.

Rather, it was Cardel who worried and fretted that she might get hurt.

“Why won’t she listen?”

It was frustrating. Because she didn’t understand his feelings.

Sometimes he wondered if she deliberately pushed her body so harshly.

“She’s probably used to enduring things alone.”

“She’s lived at the ducal household for years now—is she still like that?”

“Don’t they say childhood memories last a lifetime? For Dame Evolaine, ‘not confiding in anyone’ is probably what feels natural.”

“……”

Alone. Alone, huh. Even surrounded by people, she ultimately felt lonely.

It hurt. He wished she would trust him now. He wished she’d think of the ducal household as home.

“Still, she did get treatment before leaving, so she should be fine.”

“…I hope so.”

At Cardel’s sullen response, Heron chuckled softly.

The two were always clumsy in how they treated each other.

Approaching. Showing consideration. Every little thing was cautious and difficult.

‘It seems like it would be okay to approach more actively now.’

Cardel had remained passive since that day. Was he still dwelling on what happened?

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Heron’s thoughts were cut short. Cardel had taken the lead and entered Yutinne’s tomb.

No matter how favorable she’d been to the Asdelica territory, the tomb’s owner was a dragon. They couldn’t let him enter alone since they didn’t know what might happen inside.

“……”

Inside the tomb was silent. Even the cool breeze seemed to stop in time once it entered this place—the air was heavy, like it remained still in one spot.

At the erosive feeling, Cardel and Heron stopped at the entrance.

“The energy is thicker than I expected.”

“Could it be evil thoughts? It does seem like a lingering attachment…”

“Isn’t it too severe to just be attachment?”

It was definitely strange. The last time he’d seen Yutinne, she hadn’t looked corrupted at all.

Evil thoughts.

Generally referring to negative thoughts stemming from improper, misguided thinking, but for Divine Beasts, the story was different.

A Divine Beast’s evil thoughts were proof the Divine Beast had been corrupted.

This meant the creature had lost its reason and fallen.

Moreover, a Divine Beast’s evil thoughts negatively affected all life forms, including humans.

They manipulated living beings to act in ways detrimental to survival, most notably urging them to make extreme choices.

Even ordinary Divine Beasts—if evil thoughts remained, just touching their corpse could have a tremendous impact.

What about the king of Divine Beasts, a dragon?

The very existence of the tomb would be no different from a calamity.

“Let’s go out first. This place seems too dangerous.”

“Yes.”

Cardel and Heron ultimately fled the tomb with magic power hastily wrapped around their bodies.

The moment they escaped outside, they could breathe freely.

Taking deep breaths, they felt a refreshing sensation, like their lungs were being cleanly washed.

That’s how thick and murky the air inside Yutinne’s tomb was.

“What will you do now?”

“…Well.”

The possibility of finding Yutinne’s scales outside had now dropped to nearly zero.

The only remaining method was to search the tomb thoroughly and find scales or something equivalent belonging to Yutinne.

Cardel fell into thought. The oppressive energy he’d felt when entering was still vivid.

If that energy penetrated through magic power…

Just briefly stepping foot in the entrance had been that bad—what if he actually became corrupted?

It was horrifying. The moment he was stained by the dragon’s evil thoughts, he’d cross a river of no return.

Everyone would, including Cardel himself.

“If that energy inside is evil thoughts, how long could I last?”

“About five minutes seems possible.”

“I’d rather you just said it was impossible, Dame.”

“Facts are facts.”

It was truly far too short a time to search for anything.

What should he do?

“What if I come out every five minutes to ventilate—would that work?”

“I can’t guarantee it. There’s no assurance the evil thoughts clinging to you would detach, young master. Even if you properly removed the evil thoughts, there’s also the possibility they could transfer to me.”

It was the worst-case scenario.

Heron was also a swordsman, so he used magic power. Therefore, he could prevent corruption or detach evil thoughts to some degree, like Cardel.

However, if Heron failed to recognize that evil thoughts had attached to him, problems would arise.

If he returned to the ducal household with evil thoughts attached, he could transfer them to ordinary people who didn’t use magic power.

Ordinary people had no immunity to evil thoughts and couldn’t use magic power to remove them, so they’d definitely become corrupted.

Eventually, the corruption could spread and a calamity of evil thoughts could begin.

‘The risk is too great.’

But he desperately needed the scales inside the tomb.

Only they could detoxify the marquis and make it possible to help Evolaine face him.

If Evolaine faced the marquis who’d completely transformed into a monster without receiving the antidote, in the worst case, she could die.

“Both paths lead to becoming villains. What do you think, Dame?”

Cardel smiled bitterly. Love truly made people struggle.

It made you contemplate sacrificing the greater good for something small.

It made you put emotions before reason and make decisions everyone would say were wrong.

“I think I understand a bit how tyrants who were blinded by love and ruined their countries felt.”

He felt like an idiot.

His entire world revolved around her.

“There’s a saying that people ultimately meet others similar to themselves.”

The threads of fate are long and entangled with countless people.

If similar threads ultimately intertwine through the process of tangling and untangling, that would mean you’ve found your connection.

“Personality, actions, thoughts, values you cherish—they say people who are ultimately similar meet and change together.”

“……”

“The Duchy of Radelica is closer to ‘evil’ than ‘good,’ young master. However, it’s ‘evil’ born of necessity.”

Heron recalled the day he first met Cardel’s father, Neikan de Radelica.

The eccentric young master who’d brought him from an alley in the slums where he was being beaten by thugs, under the pretext of charity work, washed him, educated him, and employed him.

Working by his side, Heron learned that Neikan’s reputation was the worst.

Villain. Cruel mage. Madman. Battle maniac…